What Is “Rat Girl Summer” And How Do You Celebrate
You’re probably familiar with Hot Girl Summer, but have you heard of it’s cousin … Rat Girl Summer? The term was coined by TikToker Lola Kolade, who says she came up with the idea while thinking about how she wanted to spend her own summer. “I kept coming back to the word ‘scurry,’ which I just happen to think is kind of funny,” she explains, “But also communicates a playfulness and spontaneity that I wanted to experience.”
So what is Rat Girl Summer, or RGS for short? According to Tyla and Lola says it’s all about breaking free from the pressure to document picture-perfect summer content for social media and instead just enjoying the real-life experiences. Unlike Hot Girl Summer, which is more concerned with looking good online, RGS is about having fun, not the aesthetics.
How Do You Celebrate?
“In my opinion, the best summer nights rarely look good on camera: shiny with sweat after dancing all night, or covered with sand and salt after being on the beach all day,” Lola explains. She breaks down the rules of RGS:
- Get outside – It’s easy to waste your summer “scrolling endlessly on various apps or binge-watching TV,” Lola says, so “at the very least, you gotta leave your home.”
- Enjoy what you eat – Starving yourself for a “summer body” is NOT allowed and neither is feeling guilty for enjoying ice cream and other summer treats. “We’re enjoying the skin we’re in and living in our bodies, not our heads,” the creator explains.
- Kill the cringe – Lola says this means not letting yourself be burdened by arbitrary ideas of what’s cool or not. She says, “If you’re into it, do it!”
- No overthinking – The final rule is to trust your instincts and get out of your head! RGS is about experiences, not looks, and life isn’t happening inside your head.
- “Rat Girls go with their gut and trust their intuition,” Lola says. “No holding yourself back from doing things you’re interested in because you’re embarrassed – embarrassment is fake. You are real.”
